The Internet may be viewed as containing distributed information and centralized information. The distributed information is located throughout the Internet and typically takes the form of domain name servers and IP addresses, for instance. The centralized information is content, such as web pages and files, which is stored on and served by central servers.
Gaining access to such centralized content, however, is becoming increasingly difficult due to growing Internet congestion, limited bandwidth, and increasing file sizes (especially for media rich content). Traditional Internet technologies for distributing content, such as e-mail, streaming media, and FTP, have proven inadequate. E-mail is inadequate because due to the number of email messages and attachments passing through email servers, restrictions are placed on the sizes of emails that restrict what can be sent as attachments. E-mail also has security issues. POP encryption is available for securing e-mails, but is not widely adopted.
Streaming media has the disadvantages of not working with all file types and is expensive because providers must purchase different software for the various streaming media standards. Streaming media also has not proven to be a reliable transfer method. FTP file transfers also have disadvantages, which include being technically challenging to most users, and suffering from inefficient file transfers. There are other solutions for distributing content, but they are usually proprietary and do not scale well.
Another problem with distributing centralized content is cost. As file sizes increase, the distribution of content is becoming increasingly expensive for content providers due to metered pricing of used bandwidth. In metered pricing, a content provider's Internet-Service-Provider (ISP) monitors the output of the servers used to provide the content, and charges the content provider 95% of the peak usage even though the average output is much lower. Thus, the cost of distributing content from central servers is one reason why attempts have been made to decentralize content.
A further problem with distributing content is that businesses have been unwilling to sell their content on the Internet because of a lack of security, and there is no efficient payment mechanism for small transactions (e.g., less than $10). Consequently, consumers do not have an adequate mechanism for efficiently finding and buying digital items, especially those that would be sold for a minor fee.
Accordingly, what is needed is a method and system for distributing digital files. The method and system should support the buying and selling of the digital files, should be reliable and secure, and should reduce transfer costs. The method and system should further provide publishers of content a secure way to sell digital files with multiple business models, while maintaining copyrights and insuring payment. The present invention addresses such needs.